


Home Invaders

by NightOwl1600



Series: Batfam Bingo 2019 [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: AU: Normal but still rich af, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Bat Family Bingo 2019, Batfamily Feels, Big Brother Dick Grayson, Child Abuse, Gen, Good Big Brother Dick Grayson, I'm not really sure how I feel about this but I'm posting it anyways, Prompt: Anger Born Out of Worry, Protective Dick Grayson, Protective Jason Todd, Protective Siblings, They were all adopted young
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2020-07-27 09:01:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20043385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightOwl1600/pseuds/NightOwl1600
Summary: Normal AU. Bruce is still a billionaire and single, but he also has six kids he’s taking care of: Dick-16, Jason-13, Cassandra-12, Tim-10, Duke-8, and Damian-6. While taking Alfred to the doctor, Bruce leaves Dick in charge of his siblings for a few hours, but when a group of home invaders seize the opportunity, its up to Dick to keep his siblings safe—whatever it takes.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Tada...? Not sure how I feel about this, but I already wrote it and I'm already started on the second part so I thought might as well post

Dick was in charge, as always. 

Alfred hadn’t been feeling good and Bruce got worried, so they decided to take him to the doctor. While nobody wanted to be left behind in the house while Alfred was in the hospital, Dick couldn’t argue that having 5 kids running around a medical facility wasn’t exactly a great idea. 

But that was fine. Dick was 16 now. Sure he was outnumbered one to five, but he could manage for a few hours, right?

“Dick! Damian bit me!” a wail sounded from the playroom. Tim, probably. Damian doesn’t bite people as much as he used to anymore. Mostly just Tim now.

Ok, so maybe Dick was a little out of his league but he’d have to manage. 

“Coming!” Dick shouted back as he made the way to the playroom. He had only used the playroom for a bit when he first moved in. He was nine by that time and used to being around a lot of people. Playing by himself in a room all alone seemed lonely. It wasn’t until Jason came around that someone started using the room regularly. 

Jason was only eight when he came to live in the manor, and being a kid from the street, toys were usually a luxury he couldn’t afford. When he saw the playroom full of unused toys, he went to town, and even though Dick was obviously too old to play with kids’ toys (lie, he was totally loving toys at age 11 still), he played with Jason whenever the boy would ask. It eased a lot of the tension between them when they were first starting out. Then Cass, Tim, Duke, and Damian came along and Bruce decided to just keep the playroom until he was sure everyone was too old for it (and that would be a very, very long time from now). With each new sibling came a new memory that replaced the old lonely memories with happy ones.

But at the moment, the playroom was anything but happy. Cass had already made it to try to calm down the fight between the boys. Duke was hiding behind Cass, trying to get as far from the situation as possible. Cass was holding Damian back as the little one was trying to scramble to freedom, and Tim was holding his wrist to his chest starring at Damian in fear.

“Come here Tim,” Dick beckoned, “Let me see it.”

Tim sniffled a tad and stumbled over to him. “I didn’t even do anything this time,” he complained as Dick examined his hand.

“Liar!” Damian shouted. For a six year old, Damian’s vocabulary (most especially the insult section) was very wide. “He was trying to take the figurine from me!”

“It’s called an action figure!” Tim yelled back. “It’s a transformer action figure and I was trying to show you how to make it go back into the car form because you were getting frustrated!”

“I didn’t need you help!” Damian argued back as he squirmed in Cass’ arms for freedom.

“You were going to break it if I didn’t do anything!”

“I was not!”

“Was to!”

“Enough!” Dick shouted over the commotion. “Good news is that the bite didn’t break skin so Tim, you’ll be fine. I don’t care who started it, I only care that you guys stop fighting and biting each other. When Bruce gets back you are both in trouble. Does anyone else want to say anything now?”

“That’s not fair!” Damian countered. “Drake started it, right Thomas?” All the attention in the room went to Duke in an instant.

“I, I don’t really…”Duke started hesitantly.

“Don’t drag Duke into this, he was just playing!” Tim interrupted. 

Dick was going to have a headache trying to get both Tim and Damian to calm down.

“Would all of you shut up! I’m trying to read!” a voice boomed from doorway as Jason stomped in furiously. 

Correction: Dick was going to have a headache trying to calm down Tim, Damian, and Jason. 

The shouting got even worse from there. Damian was able to get out of Cass’s grip and was now in between Tim and Jason. All three were in eachothers’ faces yelling. Duke was getting upset about being put on the spot. Cass was trying to let Duke know that he wasn’t at fault. And Dick was…

…he was just really, really, tired. 

But before Dick could do anything to defuse the situation, alarms sounded throughout the entire house.

“What’s that?” Cass asked, looking at Dick for an answer.

“It’s the house alarm,” Dick said as calmly as he could as to not scare his younger siblings. “Means something broke in.” 

“Or someone,” Jason inputted ominously as he moved towards the door. 

“Hold up,” Dick ordered as he pulled Jason away from the door. “Where do you think you’re going?” 

“Going to check what set off the alarm. Where else?” Jason yanked his arm out of Dick’s grip. “Weren’t you?” 

“Yeah but I want you,” Dick grabbed Jason and pulled him into the room with the rest of their siblings. “all of you, to stay here while I go check what set it off.” 

“Why? Do you think it could be home invaders?” Tim asked more inquisitive than nervous. 

Dick shrugged and tried to seem unperturbed by the whole situation. “It’s probably nothing,” he lied, “just being safe.” With that, headed towards the door and gave his siblings a serious glare. “Stay here until I get back.” 

Hoping they would actually listen to him, Dick made his way to the security room, staying wary of anything or anyone that might be lurking in the halls as well. He scanned the hallway to make sure no one was around then dashed for the security room. He quickly inputted the digital code and slid in, making sure to close the door before he checked the footage. 

Dick turned on the footage and had to hold in gasp as at least 10 people dressed in black came through various windows around the house. It was a good strategy, on the robbers part. They could cover the most ground in the least amount of time. But on Dick’s end, the odds were not in his favor. 

Suddenly, the lock of the door clicked open and Dick braced himself for a fight, grabbing the closest thing (a chair) to defend himself. As the door was pushed open he lifted the chair into the air, only to find Jason behind the door with a deer in the headlights sort of gaze.

“Jason?!” Dick frantically whispered and rapidly pulled the boy inside the room, closing the door behind them. “What are you doing here?! I told you to stay in the playroom with the others! Where are they now? And why are you here?”

“Relax, I just followed you to make sure you were safe and to see what got into the house,” Jason answered nonchalantly as he held his hands up defensively. “I left the others in the playroom. Cass is in charge because everyone listens to her, even Damian. And I told Cass to stay there, so I think we should be good.” The boy ducked around Dick and made his way toward the computer with the security footage. “Wow, that’s a lot of bad guys!” He stated rather enthusiastically. “What do you say Dick? Time to kick ass!”

“Language, and uh, how about no?” Dick was getting really impatient with his brother. Not only did he not listen to Dick, but he also endangered his life by following Dick without even letting him know. And on top of all of that, Jason wanted to beat up 10 people that were literally all over the house.

Dick sighed. “Jason, there are at least 10 people, maybe even more, in our house, that will probably try to hurt us, or the rest of our siblings, if given the chance. There are only 2 of us. We are way outnumbered. The best thing to do is call the police, hide, and maybe wait for Alfred and Bruce to get back.”

“Yeah, until they find us,” Jason retorted back. “What’s the plan then, huh? Tell them we can all just play hide and seek together? Don’t worry Dick. I watched Home Alone, and with the six of us combined, we can take them!” 

Sometimes, Dick had a hard time telling whether Jason was serious or joking. “First, Home Alone is an inaccurate movie and Kevin should have just called the police or something, not set up an entire house of horrors. Second, they won’t find us I’ll make sure of it, okay? I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Before Jason could argue further, the two heard voices getting louder and closer to their area of the hallway. Dick quickly shifted his attention to the security feed to find that at least two of the robbers were right around the corner. Probably making their rounds, while another group of three were getting uncomfortable close to the playroom. 

“Shit,” Dick swore under his breath.

“Language,” Jason chided. Dick had to hold the eye roll. He had more important things to worry about at the moment. 

Dick turned to Jason and sternly demanded, “Follow me closely. Do exactly what I tell you to do. We are heading back to the playroom and we are going to get the others, call the police, and hide.” With that, Dick quickly, locked the computer, opened the door, and dragged Jason by the arm out of the room as quickly as possible. If they were fast, they could evade both groups.

Dick led Jason down the hallway towards the playroom. They were able to beat the first group, but before the duo could leave them behind completely Dick heard: “Hey, the security rooms open! Someone’s been in here recently!” 

That was not good. Now the robbers knew there was someone in the house with them, and that, that someone knew they were there. Dick just had to focus on getting back to the rest of his family first. 

With a few close calls, the two finally made it back to the playroom. Dick yanked Jason in quickly and quietly closed the door behind them.

Cass let out a sigh of relief seeing her two brothers back safe, but also held some tension for the rushed way in which they entered. “What happened?” she asked.

“A bunch of robbers. About ten of them, maybe more.” Jason answered. Dick really wished Jason didn’t though. Now he would either have to deal with the rest of his siblings being scared, or (and more likely) wanting to kick some ass.

“He’s right and now we are going to hide,” Dick tried to gain control back.

“What?!” Damian shouted, “I do not hide from enemies!”

“He’s right! I watched Home Alone 2, Dick,” Tim supported, “we can take them.”

“That’s what I said!” Jason complained. 

“I watched Spy Kids. Does that count for anything?” Duke added.

“Would all of you please be quiet,” Dick hushed frantically. There was a group of three goons that could be really close. Yelling was most definitely going to give them away.

“Dick,” Cass called him gently and got everyone’s attention. “its your call.” 

Everyone listens to Cass, and when Cass says its your call, then most probably everyone will listen. 

“Okay, here’s the plan,” Dick explained as he leaned in closer to the rest. “We are going to hide in the coat closet over there,” he pointed to one at the end of the room. “We are going to call the police. And we are going to wait until its safe to come out.”

There were various disapproving reactions, an approving nod from Cass, and an exaggerated eye roll from Jason, but aside from that, no more arguments. Dick pulled out his phone as the 6 of them made their way towards the closet, before they could all get in however, a voice boomed from down the hall. 

“Okay kid, we know you’re here!” a man shouted. “And we know you’re alone. We won’t hurt you if you just come to us now! We are checking every room! We just wanted to steal a few things and leave!”

“Shit,” Dick swore under his breath.

“Language,” Tim, Damian, Duke, and Jason replied in unison. 

“They’ll check in here,” Cass stated, getting everyone back on track. “They say they won’t hurt us, but I don’t trust it.”

“I agree,” Tim added, “If they didn’t want to hurt us, they probably wouldn’t be checking every room to find us. They don’t want witnesses. Probably destroyed the security footage already. Now just to tie up loose ends.”

Tim was so smart that it made Dick proud, but also, Tim was way to smart for his own good. What Tim said was probably true, but it made Dick nervous as Hell.

Then it hit him. They thought there was only one kid in the house. They thought this one kid was alone. Maybe the goons would come for this one kid, with intent of tying loose ends, but if it was just one, then the other five had a chance. 

Dick knew if he told them his plan, the rest wouldn’t let him go alone, so the best plan was not to tell them the plan. Instead, he looked at the kids in the closet, really looked at them, knowing that this could be the last time he’ll ever see them if he wasn’t careful. He took a deep breath and handed Cass the phone.

“Call the police and stay here until someone comes to get you.” Without another word Dick closed the door. They would listen to Cass if she told them to stay, and even though he hated dumping so much responsibility on her all of a sudden, there was no other way.

He made his way to the door of the playroom, arming himself with whatever he could, and just waited for someone to come through and try to take him. He was so focused that he didn’t see the 13 year old boy sneak up on him from behind.

“So can we kick ass now?” Jason whispered over Dick’s shoulder. Dick’s nerves got the better of him and he jumped about a foot into the air.

“Jason, go back inside the closet, now.” He ordered sternly. He was both furious and terrified. “I told you to wait until someone comes to get you. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“No, you told Cass that, but since I’m, like, a few months older, she can’t boss me around.”

“Jason, I’m serious.”

Jason ignored him and started picking up some toys to use as weapons. 

“Jason, listen when I am talking to you.”

Dick could hear people down the hall. He had about a minute or two before they would come into the playroom looking for a kid.

Dick was scared, for him and for his siblings, most especially Jason at the current moment since the boy refused to listen. It made him angry, but mostly just terrified. Dick was okay with taking the fall himself, but if Jason was there with him, it would make everything worse. He didn’t want to see Jason get hurt, or worse…

Jason hadn’t listened to a single thing he said the whole night. If he wasn’t going to listen to authority or reason to save his life, then Dick would have to do something else to make him hide. He would keep him, all of them, safe.

Dick let his temper go a bit and grabbed Jason’s wrist hard. He didn’t want to, but he was running out of time. If being scary and angry was the only way to save Jason’s life, then Dick would have to.

“Ow, Dick what the hell? I’m trying to help you,” Jason complained. “Dick, you’re hurting me.”

It broke Dick’s heart to hear that, and he was pretty sure his grip would leave some bruises, but better bruised than dead. He dragged Jason back to the closet as the boy tried to struggle out of the vice hold. Dick wouldn’t let him though.

“Dick, stop it! Ow!” Jason begged, and Dick just wanted to hug him, but they were running out of time. “Let go! Dick you’re holding on too tight. It hurts.”

Dick opened the closet doors again, only to see the faces of the rest of his siblings. They were scared, really scared, but not of the robbers. It was because of Dick, because he was hurting Jason, and Dick knew it. He pushed Jason inside, but before he could close the door, Jason whimpered.

He looked back at the boy, who was on the verge of tears. Jason looked up at him, and pleaded, “Please don’t go. Please don’t leave us.”

And Dick was hurting so bad, and he knew they all were, but this was the only way to give them a chance. “I’m sorry,” was all he could say as he closed the door, this time putting something in front so it would be harder for them to get out. Not impossible, just harder. 

By now, he could hear the robbers just outside the door. He got in front, ready to fight them or run as far as he could from his siblings to keep them away. There was nothing of value in the playroom anyways. What kind of thief would sneak into a manor to steal toys? Dick was ready.

Suddenly, the door swung open and three goons dressed in all black looked at him, then came running. He ducked between them and made it outside the hallway. There, he sprinted as fast as he could away from the playroom with all three of the goons following him. Everything going according to plan. 

Then, a gun went off and Dick leaped for cover. It didn’t hit him, and when he looked back, the goon wasn’t even aiming at him. It was a warning shot, but now Dick knew he would have to give up, or else be shot running. He held his hands up in surrender and soon he was brought to the kitchen, gagged, and bound to one of the chairs. 

He just prayed that his siblings were safe.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tadaaaaa. I kinda felt like the story was slow and I was really trying to get it done but this is generally how I wanted things to turn out. I did not read this over before I posted so let me know if there are any mistakes. Also the characters kind of start getting off point somewhere along the way, but at least I finished it. Hope you guys like it.

Dick estimated he had been sitting in the kitchen for at least 40 minutes. So far it seemed that the thieves were not aware of the others, but that could change if they decided to search the house some more. He was hoping that rescue would come sooner than later.

There were so many worries going through Dick’s head. He was worried they would kill him before rescue arrived, he was worried they would find his siblings, and a small selfish part of him was worried about how he must of scared them for life. 

He had been thinking about it for a while, about how he hurt Jason and how angry he must’ve seemed. Dick had always known he has a bit of a temper at times, but he’s never used it like that. Plus he’s always been patient with his sibling no matter how much they can piss him off.

But the way Jason looked at him, the way they all did, it sent a shiver down Dick’s spine. He knows that between him and the rest of his siblings, he actually had the safest family life before meeting Bruce. 

He knows someone had hurt those kids before they came to the manner, not all in the same way, but the abuse was present in their lives before. He sees it in the way Jason and Cass flinch at abrupt body movements, the way Tim tries to make himself invisible when he’s afraid of authority, and the way Damian is constantly defensive and volatile against everyone he perceives as a threat. If anything, Duke may have had the next to safest life before all of this, but the kid lived in the Narrows, and that’s pretty much a prime location for criminal activity (that’s how his parents died). 

The point was that Dick probably had the most sheltered life (which is ironic for a kid who grew up in the circus and watched his parents get murdered) in comparison to the others. The others have all had it rough with authority, anger, and criminal activity. It makes Dick sick to think about the fear those kids must be facing right now and how he sort of contributed to that. He never wanted to hurt Jason, but Dick was scared. He’s scared that Jason or the others could get hurt and scaring Jason was the only way to get him to listen. Dick hates that he had to play on that trauma to protect him.

Dick is brought back to reality when heavy boots enter the room he is currently being held captive in. Three of the intruders walk in and surround his chair. “Hey there kid,” one of the thieves says as he casts a disapproving gaze at Dick. “You are giving all of us one hell of a headache.”

Good. Dick thinks to himself.

“We thought the house would be empty,” the man contemplates, “didn’t know that one of the Wayne kids was already old enough to be without adult supervision. You all look so young.”

Dick’s not sure if that’s supposed to be a compliment or an insult but whatever it is, he seriously wishes this guy would back off.

“So here’s what’s going to happen. We’re just going to leave you here, and you’re gonna promise not to say anything. Good with you?” the man looks at him in a very dubious way. This man was playing with him.

Dick doesn’t know to do. He takes a moment to think and that’s when he notices the reflection of one of the thieves on one of the pots near the sink. She was slowly pulling out a gun.

Oh god. Dick thinks to himself. This is it. This is how it ends for him. 

They’re trying to play it off so Dick isn’t scared about getting shot, which Dick guesses is some kind of bittersweet mercy. He’s already seen their faces and now he can give descriptions, so of course they have to kill any witnesses if they actually wanted to get away with this. Dick is guessing they can lead back to them. Dick just didn’t believe these thieves actually had it in them to be murderers. 

He really, really doesn’t want to die. He doesn’t want his siblings to hear the gunfire the ultimately ends his short life. He doesn’t want Bruce to have to see him shot dead. He doesn’t want Alfred to have to walk into the kitchen knowing this was the last place Dick was alive. He promised to teach Jason how to do cool acrobatic flips, and he hasn’t beat the level on Tim’s favorite video game that’s got the kid stumped, and he told Cass that he would go to her ballet recital next month, and he still needs to help Duke with his science project for the fair next week, and Damian hasn’t even learned how to ride a bike yet, and Alfred’s birthday is in a few months, and Dick really wanted to see Bruce turn 50 and there are so many other things he still wants to do.

God, he really doesn’t want to die.

“He’s crying,” one of the thieves behind him says. Dick hadn’t even realized. “He knows. No use in trying to comfort him now. We have a job to get back to.”

Dick’s pretty sure he’s sobbing right now and if the gag weren’t in the way he doesn’t think he’d be above begging. In the reflection in the pot, he sees the thief raise her weapon. Then he closes his eyes. Its not as scary that way.

But just when he expects to the gun to go off, the sound of something crashing just outside the room has everyone freezing.

“Oh shit,” one of the other thieves in the room exclaims, “everyone else is supposed to be getting the goods. There’s someone else in the house.”

“Go check it,” the woman behind him says. “if there are more we really have to make sure they don’t get out.” The entire group runs out leaving Dick by himself.

Dick swears, if that’s who he thinks it is—

“Dick!” a small voice whispers behind him in relief. Dick startles in his seat. 

There right next to him is the very small and silent Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne. His kid brother starts to undo the ropes.

Dick curses inwardly. 

Once he’s free of the ropes, he picks Tim up and carries the kid to the kitchen cupboard and effectively locks the two of them inside to hide.

He puts Tim down and removes the gag from his own mouth as the kid starts rapidly speaking. “We’re sorry we didn’t listen. We got worried. We thought they might have shot you. We heard a gun. We couldn’t leave you. Please don’t be mad. We have a plan. Cass and Jason are distracting them. There are booby traps now. We based them off Home Alone and Home Alone 2. Please don’t be mad. Are you okay? Are you hurt? Why are you crying? Please don’t cry. Everyone is okay. Please don’t cry—“

“Tim,” Dick places a hand on his little brothers shoulder. “Breathe.”

Tim takes a deep breathe at the same time Dick does and he finally stops talking for long enough for Dick to process what he just said.

“What did you say Jason and Cass were doing?” Dick asks. At the exact same time, someone outside the kitchen yells “Fuck! Why are there nails on the floor?!”

Tim gives an almost apologetic look and shrugs. “Jay is taking wood class remember?” 

“And he just brought a bag of nails back home with—you know what? It doesn’t matter. We have to go get them.” Dick opens the door to check if its clear and drags Tim with him. Like hell he’s going to leave his siblings alone again and trusts that they’ll listen to him. 

“Dick wait,” Tim pulls on Dick’s arm, trying to lead the older boy to a nearby window. “Damian and Duke are waiting outside for us. The plan is to leave the manor and we meet everyone in the pool house.”

“What about Cass and Jason? They’re still in the house.”

“They said meet outside. We have a plan, Dick.” Tim looked at Dick with pleading eyes, begging his brother to listen and follow him out the window.

Dick isn’t really sure what the right course of action was. On one hand, if he tries to interfere with his siblings so-called ‘plan,’ he could mess everything up and get them all into more trouble than they already were in. On the other hand, he couldn’t just leave Cass and Jason in the manor while he escaped to safety.

“Ok, here’s what I’m going to do,” Dick told Tim, “I’m going to get you, Damian, and Duke to the pool house, and if Cass and Jason don’t meet us there in 10 minutes, I am going back in to get them.” 

If Dick was honest, he didn’t like the idea. 10 minutes could make all the difference between life and death, but he needed to compromise.

“But—“ Tim started.

“No, this is the plan now,” Dick gave Tim a glare. He wasn’t budging on this idea.

“Fine.” Tim pouted. “We need to hurry. Duke and Damian have been waiting.”

With the deal being settled, Dick opens the window and carries Tim out with him.

***

“Grayson!” Damian exclaimed as Tim and Dick came into view. Dick encompassed the boy in a big hug.

“Shhh,” Tim hissed. “We are trying to stay hidden remember?”

Just behind Damian, Duke was crouched on the ground and seemed to be having a quiet conversation with someone over the phone.

“…yeah, we’re outside the manor already....no we’re just in the backyard…yeah my brother Dick is here now.” Duke replied in a hushed voice.

“Duke, buddy, who are you talking to?” Dick asked.

“The police. You told us to call them.” Duke answered and shrugged before getting back to his conversation “Hello?...You want to talk to Dick?...Okay.” Duke offered his brother the phone. “He wants to talk to you.”

Dick picks up the phone and rejoices over the voice he hears on the other end of the line. 

“Hello? Richard? Its me, Commissioner Jim Gordon. I’m your dad’s friend.” 

“Commissioner Gordon!” Dick nearly shouts. “I’m so glad we got a hold of you.”

“Same here, son.” The Commissioner chuckles. “Listen your brother told me that there are robber in your house with guns. He said they got you but they had a plan to get you out. Is everyone alright?”

Dick takes a shaky breath. “I-I’m not sure. Jason and Cass are inside the house causing a distraction so Tim could untie me. I don’t know where they are. According to Tim, we’re supposed to meet them at the pool house outside.”

“Okay. Going to the pool house is a good idea. We’re coming to get you now. Try to keep the other kids and yourself safe until we get there.” Gordon tells Dick.

“What about Jason and Cass?” Dick questions, fear evident in his voice. 

“Dick, you first priority is to get yourself and whoever you can to safety. Just let the police worry about Jason and Cassandra.” Gordon tried to soothe Dick’s unease.

While the Commissioner was a truthful and good man, Dick knew Gordon couldn’t promise to get Cass and Jason out safely. He couldn’t even promise to get him, Duke, Damian, and Tim out safely. And Dick was just going to have to deal with that for now.

“Okay,” Dick surrendered. “We’ll go to the pool house, now.”

“Good. And don’t hang up the call. I give some orders so I can get this situation under control. I’m going to connect you to one of my officers. Listen to what she says.” Gordon ordered.

“Okay. I need to focus on getting all of us to the pool house safely. I’ll give the phone to Tim. Is that okay?”

“As long as you stay together. Good luck son. We’ll be there soon.”

With that, Dick handed Tim the phone. “Keep it on the call, it’ll be a police officer on the other end to make sure we’re okay.”

Without another moments hesitation, he picked up Damian, grabbed Duke’s hand, and gestured at Tim to follow. The four crouched down and made their way to the pool house as stealthily as possible. 

Once inside, Dick placed Damian, Duke and Tim in the safest corner of the room he could think of, then told them, “I’m going back to get Jason and Cass.”

“What?!” Duke and Damian exclaimed in unison. Tim gave him a crude look as he continued to talk to the officer on the phone. 

“It took us a while to get here. They should have been here by now. They could be in trouble. I have to go back and—“ Before Dick could finish his sentence, the door to the pool house was being swung open. 

Dick instinctively got in front of his younger siblings to shield them, however that proved to be unnecessary when in came none other than Jason and Cass.

“Dick!” the pair yelled in delight at the sight of their safe older brother. 

Cass ran and gave him a hug. “We thought they shot you!” the younger girl exclaimed. “Don’t ever do that again.”

“I’ll try not to,” Dick said as he hugged her back tight, glad that her and Jason were safe. 

He spared a glance at Jason. The boy seemed fine, but there was awkwardness in his stance and he was obviously putting distance between himself and Dick.

Dick had done that. Dick had hurt him. And now, Dick doesn’t know how to fix it. 

“We need to focus,” Jason says abruptly, avoiding eye contact with Dick as much as he can. All Dick wanted to do was reach out to him. “Did you guys call the police?” 

“Tim is on the phone with them now. They said they would call Bruce and come to get us.” Duke replied. Tim nodded behind him as he continued to narrate what was happening to the police officer over the phone.

Just as the group was finally settling down, they heard the telltale sounds of sirens coming from the front of the house. From their spot in the backyard, they could see officers entering the manor.

“Took them long enough,” Damian stated.

Tim looked up to the others “Officer Santiago said to stay where we are and that the police will come find us.” Tim paused to listen to the phone again. “And she also said it will be quick since most of the robbers seem to be already trapped in our booby traps.” Tim laughed and gave Jason a highfive. 

While part of Dick was concerned about how unaffected his siblings seemed after such a terrifying experience, he was mostly grateful that everything turned out alright.

***  
“Hey Jason,” Dick greeted as he took a seat next to his brother. He had just finished getting looked over by the paramedics. Luckily, the only significant injury Jason had was some light bruising on his wrist, which he refused to say how he’d gotten. But Dick knew where it had come from. He knew that he had given that to Jason. 

“Hey.” Jason answered back calmly. He looked tired, but Dick didn’t miss the way he shuffled away from him.

Dick took a deep breath. He wasn’t really sure how he was supposed to go about it, but he knew he had to address what had happened in the playroom.

But Jason beat him to it. “I’m sorry.” His little brother blurted out.

Dick needed time to process that. “What?”

“I’m sorry, okay?” Jason declared in frustration. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen and I’m sorry that’s what got you caught. I’m sorry that you almost died and it was my fault for not listening and not staying put when you told me to and I’m sorry that I put everyone in danger because I didn’t listen.”

Dick didn’t know how to respond. He had thought that Jason would have been mad at him, or traumatized by the anger he expressed or how he’d hurt him. But no, the reason why Jason was keeping his distance was because he felt guilty that he was the reason Dick had been caught in he first place.

“Jason…no…that’s not….” Dick was at a loss for words. “Jason, look at me.”

Jason hesitantly looked up. The fear and guilt was evident in his eyes. 

“None of what happened was your fault. I’m not mad at you, okay?” Dick explained.

A spark of hope gleamed in Jason’s eyes for just a second before a skeptical expression replaced it. “Then…then why were you so angry with me in the playroom? Why did you…” Jason stared at his wrist, sounding more devastated than ever.

Dick took a deep breath. “Because I was scared, Jason. I was so scared that they would find us and that I would lose you. And you didn’t listen to anything I was saying, and I didn’t know what else to do.”

Dick continued, “I am so sorry I hurt you Jason. I should have never have done it. I should have found another way so that we would all be safe. I’m sorry I scared you and made you worry. I am so, so sorry Jason. I never wanted to hurt you.” 

Jason took a minute to process then nodded, “its okay.” He said in a very small voice.

Dick shook his head. “No, it’s not okay. Jason, why weren’t you mad at me? I thought you would be mad at me, or at least a little upset. Not feeling guilty about what happened.”

“I…” Jason paused, searching for the right words, “Because you were mad at me for not listening, so that justified what happened to my wrist.” 

“No,” Dick was not going to let this slide. “Jason, if someone hurts you, for whatever reason, then you should be mad at them. When someone else hurts you, its not your fault. And you should never, ever think that it is.”

“So…you want me to be mad at you?” Jason questioned.

Dick sighed. It was confusing. He was confused too. “I mean, yeah.” Dick could take Jason being angry with him for however long he wanted, as long as Jason understood that he never deserved the pain other inflict on him.

“I guess I’m a little mad.” Jason admitted. “But not really. Its hard to stay mad at you when I know you were just trying to protect me.”

The two both stayed silent after that, neither really knowing what to say now. Dick was just glad that his siblings were safe.

“Hey Dick?”

“Yeah Jason?”

“Don’t ever do something that stupid again, okay?”

“Okay Jason. I’m sorry.”

“You should be, Dickhead. Cause I would have missed you if you got shot.”

“I love you too Jason.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tada?


End file.
